This week is NHL Goalie Week, where the NHL is celebrating hockey’s last line of defence.
Goalies in hockey are one of the most unique positions in sports, one of the major reasons being that they are allowed to customize their gear. In a sport known to be heavy on conformance, it is one area of expression that is not only tolerated but encouraged.
In honour of the masked men, let’s take a look at some of the most stylish and iconic goalie gear to be paired with the Edmonton Oilers uniform.
Curtis Joseph
Joseph is one goalie whose mask is considered among the best masks in NHL history, and one which he maintained throughout his career, something that seems to have left the NHL in recent years.
His mask is an ode to the Stephen King novel “Cujo”, which was Joseph’s nickname. The mask features Cujo with his mouth open over the cage, giving the impression that it is ready to take a vicious bite. It is a simple idea and design, which is one of the reasons it is so memorable and iconic.
In addition to Joseph’s mask, he also brought some style to his pads as well.
Playing for the Oilers during the Copper and Blue era meant incorporating those colours, and he certainly did a good job having the unique copper colour splashed throughout the years:
Tommy Salo
Another goalie who took to the copper colour for his gear was the successor the Joseph.
In addition to the pads, Salo also had a fairly iconic mask (although he did change it up from time to time as shown in the above photo). Salo played tribute to his Swedish heritage with the image of a viking on the sides, in addition to Oilers logos on the front and bottom sides. While a bit busier than Cujo’s, it still wasn’t so overwhelming so as to not be an easily recognizable lid.
Dwayne Roloson
In addition to giving one of the most iconic photos in Oilers history with his save on Jonathan Cheechoo in the 2006 run, Roli also provided a unique take on the Oilers helmet. Baby blue has never been an Oilers colour, but Roli made it work with his first mask as an Oiler. Furthermore to using that different shade of blue, Roli also made some colour changes to the logo itself, making the copper more pronounced. Finally, putting the “Roli” wording into the logo on the chin is another great take. Just overall a great mask.
Mike Smith
Smith went all out over this three seasons as an Oiler, giving a wide range of absolutely stunning gear, especially in the form of fully coloured pads:
Smith also had some pretty cool masks as well, but one interesting trend was his tribute masks. He had an Andy Moog tribute one mocking up the old player style helmet:
He had one with the backplate being a tribute to Grant Fuhr:
And finally one with a tribute to the late Joey Moss:
Grant Fuhr
If you’ve ever wondered why they are called “masks” instead of helmets, it is because goalies first wore literal masks to protect their face. And one of the last Oilers goalies to wear an actual mask was Grant Fuhr:
While the mask itself looked cool and intimidating, Fuhr’s abstract design is also very aesthetically pleasing and iconic in its own right.
Ben Scrivens
Scrivens’ mask should be considered an Oilers classic, in my opinion. The full size Oilers logo with the reversed colours is simplistic yet stylish while not looking generic. Had he played longer and better with the Oilers (and kept it throughout), I do think it would be one more people would remember.
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers
While JDD failed to meet expectations as a future starter for the Oilers, one area he didn’t disappoint in was his equipment.
Deslauriers also went with very colourful pads, which was made better by the fact that white pads were becoming all the rage at that time.
Jonas Gustavsson
He may have only played seven games for the Oilers, but Jonas Gustavsson had one of the best pad setups:
Using the pads to make an oil drop is a unique feature that is a bit surprising more goalies haven’t done given its simplicity. If only he played better and we could have seen it in action more.
